Rise of the King
by Shadowed Nightshade
Summary: Death is the key to hell, and the gates open as more sacrifices are piled in. It's amazing how a few month's worth of memories can change everything, break a heart, destroy a life.
1. Trigger between my eyes

Hello. So, my second story. This one will be much better, I promise. GX, mangaverse, except for a slight AU. It will, slightly at least, have some spiritshipping. I don't own GX.

"Nono giveitbackgiveitback!"

Everyone sighed as Jaden sprinted full-tilt through the cafeteria, holding Syrus's duel disc.

"Nope! It's mine now!"

"Jaden-" Alexis decided that Syrus's plea was pointless. Bastion determined that there was a 4% chance that the plea would motivate Jaden to give his duel disc back. Neither Chazz nor Axel cared.

Zane thought it was stupid.

Just as Syrus was about to attempt a flying leap to catch the duel disc, Crowler entered with a slightly subdued aura. "Jaden Yuki, someone's on the phone for you."

"Eh?" Jaden paused, still holding the duel disc just out of Syrus's reach. "Really?"

"Yes." said Crowler, obviously uncomfortable. "They're… uh, calling about your father's death."

Chazz froze. Alexis dropped the pen in her hand. Bastion flinched and lost his place in his book. Syrus yelped and snatched his duel disc, staring at Jaden with horrified eyes. Zane's eyes widened. Axel looked shocked, but settled to a neutral expression before long.

"Oh." Jaden said in a monotone, blinking slowly. "What happened?"

"Ah… they said, 'after a long and painful illness, Mr. Ryan Yuki passed away.'" Jaden looked faintly surprised. "More details if you call them, I guess. You going to pick up the call?"

Jaden nodded listlessly. "Sure." He walked out with none of the vigor with which he had rushed in, brushing past Johann and Jim as he left.

"Whoa, he didn't look normal," Johann said with some surprise. "What happened?"

Alexis looked like she had been slapped. "Ah… Jaden just found out that his father died."

Johann sucked in a breath and rocked back onto his heels. "_Damn."_

Alexis only nodded.

"How's he coping?"

She shook her head. "We don't know. He just walked out, and, you know, Jaden never talks about his family. I have no idea if he was close with his father."

"Eh." Johann murmured. "He's pretty close-mouthed, huh?"

"No," Bastion said softly. "He's extremely open, can't keep a secret. Just- no one thought to ask him about them, and he never mentioned them."

Johann blinked. "That never struck you as strange? He's open, can't keep a secret, but won't say anything about his family, past, and you have to guess at his deck to get anywhere? Isn't that contradictory?"

"Yeah," said Alexis uncomfortably, "but he was always so, ah, erratic that it struck no one as strange if he avoided one or the other question."

"And all questions about his family and past were in that category, and went unnoticed."

"Well, in retrospect, it is strange." Syrus said. "But at the time…"

"Hmm." Johann murmured. "We'll ask him later, ne?"

The others nodded uneasily, sitting down. Jim's brow crinkled, a line forming on his forehead as he pondered.

Nothing more was said of the matter.

"Mr. Yuki? I'm sorry for your loss."

Jaden nodded, then abruptly said, "When's the funeral?" _Dad…._

"In a week. Would you like to attend?"

Jaden swallowed. "Yes," he said. "Very much." _Maybe…_

"Good. We'll send a helicopter to pick you up."

_Who were you?_ "I'll wait for it."

So. this is kind of a preamble. Until we next meet.


	2. Please strike make it quick now

Arrgh! I'm so sorry to anyone and everyone reading this! My computer failed to work. I'm updating now, a longer chapter to hopefully make up for the absence. I will try to update consistently, but keep in mind that I don't have a lot of free time at the moment.

Thank you, and without further ado: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, and here is the fic.

Jaden packed up everything in his dorm, even his cards. He fell asleep before anyone else. They tiptoed past, and resolved to ask him in the morning.

_Jaden…_

"_You're not my son." Red. Blood. Whywhywhywhywhy…_

_Jaden!_

"_You're a monster! Stop pretending to be my son!" nonononono help…_

_Jaden! Don't let them take me away! Please!_

"_This thing! It's cursed you!" nonononono giveitbackgiveitback!_

_Jaden!_

Sweat coated his back as he sat up, breathing hard.

Another night, another dream. He reached for the glass of water always on his bed stand, gulped it down, rushed it to the sink.

He lay down again. In the morning, he would go to his father's funeral. A father he had never known. He wondered what it would be like.

…

The helicopter arrived before anyone but Jaden was awake. Jaden left.

No one ever found out how Jaden felt about all of this.

…

"Sir, your room is 342. This is the key."

_Father is dead. So where's Mother? What happened to her? Will she be at the funeral?_

_I don't want to see her. I hope she's not there._

"Sir? Are you alright?" Jaden snapped out of his daze.

"Eh? Yes, yes. I'm sorry. Thank you."

"Err, room 342. Third floor." The pretty blonde receptionist smiled at him uncertainly. Her nametag was red with bold white font, reading "Rochelle".

"_Is he alright? He seems a little… off. Oh God, I hope he's not a schizo. He could attack-"_

Jaden smiled. "Thanks. And I'm fine. My father just died yesterday, that's all."

He walked away, leaving Rochelle gaping after him.

"_I never said any of that out loud, did I?"_

Jaden wondered. Why was she thinking out loud? Of course she had said that out loud. He decided that he didn't like her. She was kind of rude.

Who told someone that they thought you might be schizophrenic?

…

"_Look, I'm burying that thing with all your little friends, Jaden. That way you'll never forget you killed them." Stoppit stoppit shutupgiveitback._

"_Don't worry, Mommy won't let you hurt anyone ever again." No no no no HELP!_

Eyes snapped open. Jaden rocked back from leaning on his room window. Sweat beaded on his forehead, and when he wiped it away, he felt the impressions the bug screen had made on his skin, a fine tender grid sunk into his reddened skin.

He leaned back with a gasp, feeling his head grow heavy until it fell forward onto the screen again.

"_Mara, dear, he's just a child. You can't possibly be suggesting-"_

"_Not just suggesting! One, maybe even two could be a coincidence. Twelve! Twelve, all under the same circumstances, same symptoms. One link. You know what it is."_

"_He's a child-"_

"_A monster, Ryan!"_

_Flash. A woman, brown hair and blue eyes, insane hatred, crazed._

"_I'm going to bed, Mara." Turning away, black-brown hair and tired brown eyes._

Snapping back, Jaden fell onto his bed. His eyes fell closed again, heavy…

"_Oh my God. Sweet Jesus in Heaven."_

"_The poor thing…"_

"_What the hell was she thinking?"_

"_You alright?"_

"_Can he talk?"_

"_It's better if he doesn't remember."_

"_How-"_

"_Tell the doctors to use electroshock therapy." A man, balding, in his forties. He spits on a bundle of burnt cloth and ashes and something that smells sick-sweet, something humanoid. The room is devastated, burnt out._

"_That's kind of harsh, don't you think?"_

"_The kid'll thank us for it later."_

Jaden opened his eyes, breathing hard. The doorbell rang, and he opened it mindlessly.

"Hello," said a pudgy, balding man. He looked morosely around. "You're Mr. Jaden Yuki?"

"Yes." Jaden said softly, pushing aside the strange visions for the moment.

"My condolences for the loss of Mr. Ryan, Jaden. He was a great man. It was an honor to have known him."

Jaden blinked. _Ryan…?_ "And you are?"

"Oh!" he cried, looking crestfallen. "I'm so sorry! I'm Norton Barnes. Call me Mr. Barnes. I'm here to drive you to the funeral."

Jaden nodded quietly, dressed in the clothing given to him by some person at the airport, and slowly followed the man outside. He looked at his attire as he walked, feeling the abnormal sensation of having no energy, so tired. _Is this how everyone else feels all the time?_ He wondered. _It sucks._

Black dress shirt, black jacket, black slacks, black socks, black shoes. The only things of color were his skin, gold chain bracelet, and hair. Tucked beneath the dress shirt, pressed against the soft skin of his chest lay a key. It had reportedly been his father's, the only thing left to Jaden in the will. _Strange, _Jaden thought with some morbid amusement. _His only child, the son he hasn't seen for years, and all he is given is a wonky key._

The key looked more like a dagger than a key; the hoop that attached it to the chain was black, seemingly without reflection or gloss to the surface. It was about an inch across.

The stem was three inches long and jagged, cool to the touch and impervious to Jaden's body heat, sharp on the edge from which the actual tines jutted.

There were four tines, spaced closely and irregularly. They were slender, but no less rough and dull-looking. The closest to the needle-like jagged edge was three-quarters of an inch long, and just as sharp as the tip of the stem. The next was a half an inch, the next slightly longer, the last the same length as the second.

Jaden pressed his hand against his chest, feeling the imprint of the key against his palm.

"Why this?" he wondered aloud.

…

The funeral for Ryan Yuki was solemn, short, and to the point. Jaden's father had not been a religious man, and it showed in the succinct ceremony. A picture was placed on the gravestone of a man that Jaden barely remembered.

Jaden walked to the fresh grave and lay lilies by the headstone of a man he had barely known. An hour later, he was back at the hotel, fingering the key. It smelled brackish and slightly of alcohol, and when he turned it a certain way, it seemed a dull red.

It was also sharp, and he cut his finger lightly on the tip. Surprised, he sucked on the thin cut, tasting his metallic blood and something darker, sick-tasting…

He yanked his hand away from his mouth with a shudder.

Best just to sleep.

…

"_Hello."_

"_Daddy!"_

"_How you doing? It's your birthday, you know what?"_

"_What daddy, what?"_

"_I got you a present!"_

"_Yay! What is it?"_

"_Here it is!"_

"_A box?"_

"_Don't look disappointed now, okay? It's full of cards. Special cards. There's supposed to be a spell on the box that has the cards reflect the user's nature…"_

"_Wow! That's special!"_

"_Those are your special cards, okay?"_

"_Yeah!"_

…

"_How many cards should I put in, Bell?"_

_Fifty-two, Jaden. It's a special number._

"_These cards?"_

_Yes. Those ones are perfect._

"_Great! Thanks, Bell! You're the best friend ever!"_

_Yes. I won't be like any other friend you've had, Jaden. I'll love you forever, never let you go. Alright? You're always my precious Jaden._

"_Yeah! And you're always my best friend, Bell!"_

_Of course._

…

"_No! Bell!"_

_Jaden! Don't let them take me away! Please!_

"_This thing! It's cursed you!" _

"_Mom, stop! Please! Mom!"_

_Jaden!_

"_I'll make sure that you'll never see this again! Ryan, back me up on this!"_

"_Noo! BELL!"_

_Jaden! Don't let them touch him!_

"_Kiddo, just let your mom have the card. It's just a card, kiddo… what-"_

_**Insolent.**_

Jaden snapped awake. His heart pounded in his head, the window open. "Bell…" he said weakly.

That last voice hadn't been Bell. It had sounded like her but not, and for a second, he had seen gold.

"_Look, I'm burying that thing with all your little friends, Jaden. That way you'll never forget you killed them." Stoppit stoppit shutupgiveitback._

"_Don't worry, Mommy won't let you hurt anyone ever again." No no no no HELP!_

He gasped, overwhelmed with a sudden sense of purpose. He knew where those cards were. He knew where his real deck was.

He ran out of the hotel and headlong into the night, the key clenched in his fist, drawing more blood.

As he sprinted towards the graveyard, the wind picked up and the clear calm sky began to swirl with dark clouds.

…

"Johann, what are you doing?" the cheerful boy was fixated on a computer screen, but turned when Alexis called to him.

"Oh, just re-watching your duels in the school tournament. This one is Jaden's against Bastion."

"Ah." Bastion said, turning away embarrassedly. "I lost that one."

"I know!" Johann laughed, then looked slightly shocked. "Oh, what?"

"I said," repeated Bastion, (chorused by a snicker from Ammon) "I lost-"

"No, no, I heard that," Johann interrupted. "Look at this."

The screen was fixated on Jaden. He swung his arm out _"Yes!"_ he cried, grinning victoriously. Johann froze the screen. "Do you see that?"

"See what?" Chazz asked, peering over Johann's shoulder.

"That!" insisted Johann. "Look at Jaden's eyes!"

"Hm?" Alexis leaned closer. "Oh my god!"

"What! What!" Chazz yelped, trying to shove past Bastion. It wasn't working.

"One of his eyes is _yellow._" Bastion said. He sounded fascinated and sickened, shocked.

"Wow." Chazz muttered. He raised his voice. "Hey, isn't that, I don't know, a camera glitch?"

"No." Ammon said. "The camera glitch is red-eye. His eye is bright yellow. What the hell…?"

"No idea." Said Johann. "But that is bizarre."

A branch from a tree outside cracked against the window. The sky had suddenly grown dark.

"Wow. I hope it's not going to rain." Alexis said softly, resting her hand on the glass.

Bastion, Chazz, and Ammon murmured assent, but Johann just stared at the sky.

_Something's off about this weather,_ he decided.

…

Fingertips and nails tore into the packed earth. The headstone was weathered, ten years old. Sabrina Atkins.

"_Jehu, Savage Prince of Hell! Attack her Whindy the Wind Fairy!"_

"_Wow, Jaden! You're so strong! I didn't have a chance!"_

"_Thanks, Sabby!"_

"_Oh, I've got to go home now. See you tomorrow!"_

"_Bye!"_

His lips twisted into a savage snarl. "Shut-" he grasped clods of mud and flung them aside- "_up!"_

His fingertips bled onto a tiny plastic baggie, yanking it out of the soil, wiping the dirt and blood off in muddy streaks…

The image was of a slender woman, painted silver, her hair swirling about her like streamers. She smiled enigmatically at the card with silver-blue lips, eyes like the sky.

Ventis the Wind Spirit. Four stars, 1800 attack. Behind it…Darkwind Ventis. Six stars. Like Ventis, but darker, more sinister. Two spells.

He moved on. Halber Finn. _Aquarian…_ he held the four cards loosely.

Cyrus Solari. Pyraeus the Flame Spirit.

Cindy Stone. Denger of the Earth.

Alpha Cintari. Raya the Lightning Spirit.

Bronn. Zwei. Drei. Eins. Juu. Jessen. Nightblood.

He couldn't find her, couldn't find _it…_

He turned, panicking, and knew. That woman had hidden it in her own grave…

He approached. Mara Yuki.

He dug like a madman, tearing through the hard-packed earth with fingers that bled from the abuse. At last, though, the coffin was revealed. It was somber black, with a single keyhole on the edge.

A keyhole in the shape of the key that, even now, he was gripping. He stared at it.

_It was father's… so… could it be that it was given to me to open this?_

The key was growing steadily heavier in his palm.

_Does that mean that I'm correct?_

The key's tines seemed to sharpen, as if they would pierce him if he continued.

Jaden snarled. "Screw it." His fists smashed into the wood, beating at it until his knuckles felt like they would break. At that point he paused, licked the blood and dirt off them, and continued.

Eventually, the wood broke. Ignoring the agony in his raw, torn-up fingers, Jaden tore the wood aside to find what he was looking for- an empty coffin. Inside were four cards, shadowed in the steadily darkening light.

With trembling fingers, he picked up the first.

_The Anima_. An effect monster. The second- _Jehu, Savage Prince of Hell._ Tears escaped his burning eyes, and he smiled like he was seeing an old friend.

The third- _Haoh, Supreme King of Hell._ His body shook like a leaf in the wind.

Fourth- _Yubel_.

_Jaden… my precious Jaden, I missed you so much._

Jaden's body jerked, once, and was still. He sat staring at the cards in his hands.

The wind began to blow stronger, now: and it carried the scent of decomposition and blood and anger. It howled in fury and terror, slicing cruelly through the bare-branch trees in the cemetery. It pushed at Jaden, like it was trying to cut him to pieces, to fling him over a cliff.

Jaden didn't notice.

A few drops of rain began to fall. The sky was crying.

…

"Wow, it's really pouring." Johann noted.

Alexis only looked out the window, wondering if it was raining where Jaden was.

"This is a sudden storm," Bastion said softly. "I believe that it was clear and sunny earlier.

"Yeah, this is strange," Johann said. "Makes you wonder if it's supernatural."

Chazz gritted his teeth and glared at Johann. "There's no such thing as spirits!"

Everyone turned to look at him curiously. "What?" he snapped.

"Chazz." Syrus said, bemused; "Johann never said anything about spirits."

Chazz said nothing, only looked outside at the pouring rain. It looked, he decided, like the sky was crying for something that could now never be. He didn't know what he was thinking, though, because he had no idea what that never-to-be thing even was.

…

Principal Mackenzie stared out the window. Times like these, the glass seemed to glow black, like a mirror.

He opened the window. Rain sliced down like silver-black bullets from the sky, striking his arms.

It was freezing cold, and bit him like acid. With a cry, he jerked back, slamming the window shut.

He sat there, cradling his bleeding arms, and wondered. This certainly was not a natural storm.

…

Jaden stood in front of his mother's grave, holding fifty-two cards. The wind tore at him and screamed at him. The rain splashed around him, trying to freeze him where he stood. He stared emptily down at the cards in his hands. His jaw was slack, lips slightly parted, breath gliding out ephemerally, misting.

The sky boiled, lunging down at him, the eye of the storm leering. And Jaden answered.

From his lips issued a soft stream of tinted words, thick and dark. The trees shivered. It was still his voice, but changed, and this voice demanded your attention. It screamed into your face from even the softest of whispers, screamed- _"Love me, hate me, fear me, I care not. Notice me, and listen."_ All things listened to that voice and answered and obeyed.

To a human observer, the words were unintelligible; they were not the audience. Shadows thickened along the edge of the cemetery, and tiny, shuddering beings tore themselves from the mass. They crept up and listened.

Jaden finally lifted his head, his bloodred lips curved into a tiny smirk. He looked like death, and as the shadows curled about him, chittering softly, he let out a tiny laugh and his eyes flared yellow.

_**Finally, I may begin.**_

…

This was a difficult thing to write. May I remind everyone, this is based on the manga. Book three of GX, you'll notice that in a duel Jaden's eye actually lightens.

For inconsistency with names, again I refer to the manga; the names used are a mix of Japanese and English.

Just to clear some things up.


	3. Wait

Okay. So, third chapter. Believe it or not, Jaden's dad's name was going to be Hideki, not Ryan- too late now, I guess.

Well, I hope you enjoy this!

...

"Jaden's coming back today."

Everyone turned to look at Syrus. Crowler grinned. "Eh? Dropout boy's coming back?"

"Yeah." Syrus said, head drooping slightly. "He… sent me a message over the PDA. He sounds a little weird."

"Weird?" Bastion asked.

Johan echoed him "Weird how?"

"Well…" Syrus hesitated, then continued. "He was so quiet and calm… it was just weird. There was this feeling… like… calm before… uh…"

"The calm before the storm?" Johann offered.

"Yeah. The calm before the storm. It felt like he was just waiting to get _angry,_ and then whoever made him angry would pay."

"Really." Ammon said, clearly not buying it.

"No, really!" Syrus said feverishly. "He's scaring me!"

You could have heard a pin drop in the room.

"The slacker's… scaring you," Chazz said, as if it was hard to comprehend.

Syrus nodded.

Zane blinked. "I don't think it'll be anything really worrying." He said gently but bluntly.

"Hey, guys." It was Jaden, but he wasn't wearing his usual red jacket, worn black shirt, light grey jeans that were perpetually wrinkled and slightly dirty. His face didn't have the same carefree expression, like he was about to laugh.

This Jaden was, as Syrus said, strange. Unsettling, maybe even frightening. His eyes were slightly narrowed, as if daring you to cross him, his hair seemed spikier and longer, perhaps a shade or two darker. His skin looked paler, like if you were to cut him, not blood but some white fluid would flow, and his body seemed more angular, like it was in sharper focus than the rest of the world. He wore black crisp clothing that flowed around him like shadow.

"Jaden!" Alexis greeted him with a smile, stepping up. "How are you feeling?" her expression turned anxious. "Are you alright? How was the funeral?"

He looked at her steadily, until her gaze dropped. He smiled tautly. "Fine." He said. "I'm feeling great."

Alexis blinked. "Really?" hopeful. "Great!"

Jaden smiled at her in a way that suggested that it wasn't something "great" much less something to be happy about.

"You had us worried!" Syrus yelped. "Acting all weird like that!"

Jaden fixed his eyes on Syrus's face. There was no emotion in the flat stare. "Really." He said.

Jaden ate the food at dinner quietly and slowly. He was watching everyone around him with a sharp, suspicious stare, eating with immaculate manners and care.

He went to bed early.

Two days later, and it was nearly impossible to talk to Jaden. He was icy, perfectly mannered, mistrustful, and unreachable.

One of the other Slifers decided to "knock him off his high horse" that is, to duel him and win.

He(Brann) was sorely disappointed, when he challenged Jaden, and received: "Sure."

They faced each other, with nearly the entire dorm, some Obelisks, and the transfers watching. "Duel on!" they all cried, preparing to see a tough duel.

They drew, Jaden taking the first turn. "I summon Ventis the Wind Spirit in attack mode and set three cards. Ventis's effect; I add Darkwind Ventis to my hand. Turn end."

Brann drew, and grinned. "Ha! I summon Black Viper in attack mode, and when it's on the field, I can Special Summon White Viper! I fuse them to summon Grey King Viper! Attack!"

Jaden's head tilted back slightly. "Reverse card, open;" he intoned. "Negate Attack. I'll chain A Hero Emerges with that." He spread his hand out before him, so Brann could only see the backs of the cards. "Select one."

Brann gritted his teeth. "That one, the one that your thumb's touching."

Jaden smiled viciously. "Pyraeus the Flame Spirit. He's Special Summoned, and his effect: I add Darkfire Pyraeus to my hand."

Brann ground his teeth. "I set one card and end my turn."

"Draw." Jaden smiled. "This will be quick. A one-turn kill, I suppose." He flicked his wrist dismissively. "I summon Darkcrier Juu on the field in attack position. Trap card: Ultimate Offering. I pay five hundred life points and summon Black Shadow Spirit on the field in attack position. With Black Shadow and one other Dark monster on my field, I can draw a card."

"What's the point of that?" Brann cried. "You can't tribute summon!"

"Tsk!" Jaden laughed harshly. "Darkfire Pyraeus's effect: if I remove Pyraeus the Flame Spirit from play, he's special summoned. Same goes for Darkwind Ventis and Ventis the Wind Spirit." Flickering shadows, a man of black flames and a woman of dark smoky wind. "And I activate a field magic, Dark Gate of Union."

Blackness oozed from the ceiling and walls, and Brann screamed as the floor turned to a gate of bones. Grey King Viper was destroyed.

"When Dark Gate is activated, all non-Dark monsters are destroyed, and I can fuse Dark monsters without a fusion card." He smirked, and pointed a single finger at Brann. "I fuse Darkfire Pyraeus and Darkwind Ventis. I do the same with Darkcrier Juu and Black Shadow Spirit. Fusion summon: Dark Inferno Storm and Haoh, Supreme King of Hell!"

He spun his arm from the elbow. "No one may use magic or traps in His Majesty's presence; your facedown is destroyed."

Brann was shaking.

"Attack."

Brann collapsed, and the game ended.

Jaden walked off with the same icy surety that he now held in every move. No one moved to stop him; Chazz searched the air for a sign of Winged Kuriboh, but it wasn't there. He thought he saw a shadow of a demon trailing in Jaden's wake, but dismissed it.

After all, there were only two spirit cards, weren't there?

Jaden sat at the edge of a cliff. The drop-off opened to ocean, deep, interminable…

"There you are!" Johann sprang from the bushes and sat next to him. "How're ya doing?"

Jaden's eyes flicked to Johann, and turned away. "Fine."

"Did you know that the average person lies eighty-thousand times a year, and that the most common lie is "I'm fine", "good", "fine", or any variation on that theme? It actually makes up the majority of all lies."

Jaden flinched slightly and whipped around, wide-eyed gaze colliding with Johann's expression, which was nonchalant. Jaden's eyes narrowed; was that a flicker of cunning, curiosity in Johann's face?

"Really." He responded, coldly. He would not let Johann see that he had struck a nerve.

"Yeah. And you know what I think, Jaden? I think that you're not fine, that something happened while you were gone. Everyone's like, "no duh! His dad died!" but I think that that's not the problem. I think that you don't give a rat's ass what happened to your dad. I think something else happened. So, time's up. Cards on the table, so to speak. What really happened?"

Johann's gaze was intense. Green eyes cutting holes through Jaden's mental defenses.

Jaden sighed, brought his knees up to his chest. "You really want to know?"

Johann nodded. "Yes. I want to know what happened. There's a weird feeling from whatever you wear around your neck, too, where you press your hand but no one ever sees what it is. I want to know what that is, too."

Jaden tipped his head back to look at the sky. "It all started a long time ago, when I was four or five."

…...

So there's that. The next chapter will be longer. Just a note that I forgot to include elsewhere- Johann will be Jaden's very close is a larger character, I just took a little while to get to it.

If you have any suggestions, please tell them to me.

Duels will be kept quick and concise, as they are not the focus, but I will include others. I know that this deck is neither Manga Jaden's or the Supreme King's deck, but one that I created. It has a point.

Until later.


	4. I'm coming undone, irate

Disclaimer was forgotten before, so here it is: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX.

…

"Jaden, daddy'll be home in about an hour." The little boy stood on the kitchen floor, smelling of milk and mud.

"Jaden, how many times have I told you not to play in the park after it rains? Now look, you're all muddy…" the little boy gave his mother an inquisitive look that receded to a flat stare, neither menacing nor welcoming, but carefully, studiously neutral.

"Don't give me that look, young man! You need to keep clean! Come now, let's give you a bath before Daddy gets home…" the little boy lets himself be pulled along, smelling of milk and mud and metal.

Daddy's home an hour later, and it's raining. Water streaks the windows that are the glassy walls to the outside, and little Jaden looks at the wet shadows and wonders why they're whispering. He's tried talking back, really, but it's like he's missing something…

"Hey, how's my little boy?" Daddy is there, a giant, hugging little Jaden but not thinking about Jaden. His mouth moves and words come out without feeling, a man who lives for his wife and his work and ignores the unfortunate blip in his lifestyle, the little boy that somehow came from them both.

Jaden looks at daddy, eyes conveying emotions that would never reach the man before him, emotions that could not be expressed in thousands upon thousands of words….

"Good, good." Ryan Yuki was a cold man. A loving, cold, relentless man. "Daddy brought you a present, he did."

A present; something special, abnormal. "What?" Jaden asks, in a whisper-thin voice.

"I'll give it to you when you're older, okay? But you can see it now! It's a key." Hooked key, spiky tines, sharp stem. It strikes a chord in Jaden, and he moves to grasp it, to embrace it… it's important, though he doesn't know why. "No, no! You can't touch it, you could cut yourself!" Jaden withdraws reluctantly, feeling disappointed and lost. He needs the key, he knows that, though….

"It's dinnertime, okay, kiddo?" and Jaden is lost again, following daddy wordlessly out to where dinner waits, where he'll eat little, and not tell them again about the whispering shadows, about the weird whispers people say-but-don't-say….

And the family will always be fine, won't it? Because mommy and daddy love each other, and Jaden will just be there, growing up, growing up…

…

It's midnight, and Jaden's had a nightmare. It's dark and cold, and little shadows are screaming, somewhere, without sound.

Jaden walks to mommy and daddy's room, where the lights are on, and the filth can't reach him, acid, can't touch him, corrode him, like it does in his dreams…

"He talked to me today, Mara. Has he ever talked before?"

"I don't think so. Such a relief, I thought he was retarded."

"I still think he is. Little brat, where did we go wrong?"

"I think that it's just his particular brand of growing up. He'll be absolutely awful when he's a teenager…"

"Mara, I accepted a new job. I'll be away for a couple of months."

"What? Ryan, I can't take care of this house alone! That little freak takes up most of my time, running around disobeying everything I tell him to do-"

"Mara, he's your son!"

"Yours too! When was the last time you called him by name, huh? Do you even know what his name is?"

"Of course I-"

"Don't! You haven't been there at his last three birthday parties, only for his first! Ryan, I'm sick of this! Everyone else at the preschool, they say, Look there's Mara, did you hear her husband's not home again? Jeez she must be a real witch if he's not home all the time, feel sorry for that husband of hers-"

"Reputation, reputation, reputation! That's all that matters to you, isn't it? That's all!"

"And your stupid job is all that matters to you! You don't care about this house! You don't care about me!"

"Mara, of course I care about you! Please, let's not fight, you are the most important thing in my life. My job doesn't compare to you."

"Ryan, I'm so sick of this! I'm tired of dealing with Jaden, tired of everyone else!"

Jaden doesn't understand half the words said, but he understands that they're angry at him, so he turns around and walks away. Hugging his plush purple squirrel (that was his first and last birthday gift from his mother), he tries to sleep. He is unsuccessful.

The shadows whisper again, and, comforted by their murmur, falls asleep.

…

Jaden's six. He's gotten better at playing the game; he'll talk to people who talk to him, and seem carefree and sweet. Daddy comes home again, first time in two years; it's two days after Jaden's birthday.

"Hello." Jaden looks up, daddy's there, smiling-not-smiling. His hands are behind his back.

"Daddy!" the game goes on goes on…

"How you doing? It's your birthday, you know what?" keep playing- goes on goes on-

"What daddy, what?" he really is curious now.

"I got you a present!" Another one? Jaden had never seen the key again, but the shadows told him that it was in the house. He still looked for it, when Mommy wasn't home.

"Yay! What is it?" Was it the key at last? His hopes are crushed; his father's shadow tells him that it's not.

"Here it is!" Daddy produces a box from nowhere, ebony and ironwood, etched with spiky shapes.

"A box?" It radiates power.

"Don't look disappointed now, okay? It's full of cards. Special cards. There's supposed to be a spell on the box that has the cards reflect the user's nature…" the box and the key. Both important, now he has one.

"Wow! That's special!" he's not joking or lying. He's excited, the box really is special…

"Those are your special cards, okay?" Yes. Yes they are.

"Yeah!" the man and the boy smile at each other, the man mentally already gone, the boy uncaring of the man.

…

Jaden flips through the cards. They are strange, crooked images that he half-recognizes.

_Hello, Jaden._

Jaden jumps and looks around. Behind him sits a woman, brown skin, wings and dichromatic hair, glowing eyes of two colors. "Who are you?"

_I am Yubel. Your friend._

"Wait!" Jaden gasps. He grabs one of the cards and holds it up. "This is you!" she smiled.

_Yes._

"But… how are you a card and a person?"

_I'm not exactly what you would call a person, Jaden. I'm a spirit._

"A ghost?"

_No. Not quite. Ghosts are the memory-souls of the newly dead. I'm a complete soul, altered a little, and bound to that piece of paper in your hands._

"Memory-souls?" Jaden asks, thrilled and exhilarated and confused by the words and terms she uses. She grins, fangs showing under purple lips the likes of which he has never seen before.

_Three parts to the soul; the memory, the nature, or the heart, and the core. The memory is all of the memories, accumulated, that form emotions. Nature, or heart, is the instincts common, from the imprints of memory that form on the complete soul. Two people that fall in love again and again and again, each reincarnation, no matter what. _She smiled. _Your prince charming will bring that out in you._

"Prince charming? But I'm a boy…" and boys weren't supposed to love other boys, isn't that what Mommy and Daddy said? But something wrenched in his chest when she said that, and told him that it was very all right to love a boy, and if it was possible, to find him and love him now.

Yubel laughed. It was a soft, lilting laugh. _Oh, Jaden. You'll see. The core soul is the initial soul, created with power and bound to other souls… I was bound to your soul, from the start. I'll be your friend, Jaden, okay? Always with you…_

Jaden smiled. Yubel was going to be a friend, and something told him that he could trust Yubel to the ends of the Earth. "Sure!"

She smiled, suddenly predatory. _How about I start by helping you structure your deck?_

He nodded, and spread out the cards. Yubel leaned over him, pointing things out.

"How many cards should I put in, Bell?" he didn't know where he had gotten the nickname, but he liked it and she didn't complain.

_Fifty-two, Jaden. It's a special number._

"These cards?" he held up a handful of monsters. They were a handful that had whispered to him like the shadows. They were friendly, and he liked them.

_Yes. Those ones are perfect._

"Great! Thanks, Bell! You're the best friend ever!" he was glad Yubel was with him. She was the nicest person he had ever met.

_Yes. I won't be like any other friend you've had, Jaden. I'll love you forever, never let you go. Alright? You're always my precious Jaden._

"Yeah! And you're always my best friend, Bell!" he needed to tell her that; she needed to know how much he loved her.

_Of course._

Neither of them saw Mara watching Jaden with something akin to horror in her blue eyes. She ran from the door in a patter of slippers.

…

Jaden walked into kindergarten, six, happy. His cards were in his pocket.

On the way to class, someone tripped him and they all fell out, scattering like feathers off a frightened bird.

"Whoa, hey, look at this! Some kid thinks he's a duelist!" it was a first grader, seven. He picked up one of Jaden's cards, and Jaden saw with his heart in his mouth that it was Jehu. Something in Jaden rebelled, and he stood up with a sharp shriek.

"_Give that back!"_ he lunged, but the first grader sidestepped.

"Duel me for it."

Jaden growled savagely. "Sure."

Gathering up his cards, he got ready.

"My name's Alpha, by the way."

The duel began, with Alpha's first; he summoned Lightning Cobra in defense position. Yubel materialized behind Jaden for tips, should Jaden need them.

Jaden drew. "I summon Raya the Lightning Spirit in attack position. Raya's effect: I add Darkshock Raya to my hand! Uh, I set two cards and attack Lightning Cobra. It's destroyed."

Alpha muttered a curse and drew; promptly summoning Lightning Tiger. He tried to use Hammer Shot, but it was destroyed by a chain and happened to allow Jaden to summon Pyraeus the Flame Spirit. Alpha spat at Jaden.

Jaden's turn, and he fused Pyraeus and Raya to summon Burning Lightning God. He ended the duel quickly, recovering his precious Jehu.

Alpha didn't come to school the next day; it wasn't until a week later that it was discovered that Alpha had gone home, fallen ill, and died two days later.

Neither was the incident isolated; Jaden dueled eleven others, and they all fell ill and died.

Mara watched with growing hatred, fear, and anger.

…

The dinner bell rang, and Jaden stopped. "I'll finish telling you later." He said softly to Johann. Jaden was keenly aware that this was the first time he had told someone about the shadows, about Yubel, about his side of the story. He stood and walked away, wondering why he had just turned to someone and told them everything. Some stranger, someone he barely knew.

_Heart-soul, Jaden. He was someone you trusted in another life, even if you don't remember him. You can trust him; his heart-soul is probably jerking him around too._

"Alright." Jaden murmured.

Johann sat where Jaden had left him, thinking. Was everything Jaden had told him true? If so… what had happened to Jaden's mother, Mara? Where was she? What was she doing, and why hadn't she been at the funeral?

…

Chapter four was a little late- I just started school, so updates might lag a little.

If you have any questions, shoot; some of the things covered here will come back, others will not.


	5. I'm coming undone, too late

I am delighted that people actually like this! So, disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX. If I did, I would change the names to the Japanese names- they're easier to say. And prettier.

...

Dinner went by uneventfully, and Jaden and Johann rejoined each other afterwards. Dark was falling, and clouds were looming in.

"Jay?" he half-turned to Johann. "Are the shadows talking to you now?" Jaden nodded. "Can you hear them clearly? What do they say?"

"Well," Jaden said, then paused. "They tell me things. About other people. Right now, Chazz is belittling Syrus, Atticus is joking around with Zane, and Aster is in his room. They tell me what's in locked rooms, and about key codes and passwords and secrets. About spirits and hidden powers. I can only hear them when I really concentrate, though. And if I'm either surging- losing control of my powers- or focusing really hard, I can hear people's thoughts."

"Wow." Johann said. "That's pretty handy."

Jaden nodded absently. "Yes, it can be." His eyes refocused. "I'll continue. I'm skipping the boring parts, just so you know."

…

Jaden had no idea that Mara was watching him every day, as he befriended and chatted with the spirits around him. He had no idea that she was slowly being convinced that he had been possessed or bedeviled.

He had no idea that she was pouring salt dust on his sheets, and extra salt in his food. All he knew was that he was very thirsty at dinnertime, and his bed was itchy and uncomfortable. He liked helping her polish the silver clocks and pots, though. This drove her slightly crazy and made her paranoid, as she began to believe that he was possessed by a spirit too powerful to be driven out by salt and silver.

He did know, however, that his mother blamed him for the deaths of his friends.

"Mara, dear, he's just a child. You can't possibly be suggesting-"

"Not just suggesting! One, maybe even two could be a coincidence. Twelve! Twelve, all under the same circumstances, same symptoms. One link. You know what it is."

"He's a child-"

"A monster, Ryan!"

"I'm going to bed, Mara." Turning away, leaving the room.

And then, she decided that the only way to get rid of the spirits plaguing Jaden was to take away his cards.

"No! Bell!" he was screaming, hopelessly, helplessly, lunging towards his cards grasped in his mother's hands.

_Jaden! Don't let them take me away! Please!_

"This thing! It's cursed you!" her eyes were wide and insane, knuckles turning white.

"Mom, stop! Please! Mom!" desperation took over, and he lunged, snatching up two of the cards that fell when she stumbled before his assault. Jehu and Haoh.

_Jaden!_

"I'll make sure that you'll never see this again! Ryan, back me up on this!" his father, who had been studiously pretending that nothing was happening, turned back, watching the scene.

"Noo! BELL!" Jaden jumped forward, but scrambled back when Mara made a swipe for the cards clenched in his hands.

_Jaden! Don't let them touch him!_ He knew what she was talking about, oh god he knew he knew…

"Kiddo, just let your mom have the card." He had never truly hated his father before now… "It's just a card, kiddo…" he picked up Haoh's card- "What-"

_Blackshadowsstriketheairscre aming_

_**Insolent. **_Haoh's voice, a tormented version of Jaden's, beautiful and terrible. And then Ryan fell to the ground, and Jaden screamed, and Mara held all the cards.

…

"Oh _God,"_ Johann breathed.

"It gets worse." Jaden warned.

…

Mara was gripping Jaden's hand like a vise as they walked to the graveyard. She stopped by Sabrina's grave first.

"Look, I'm burying that thing with all your little friends, Jaden. That way you'll never forget you killed them." Just looking at her, Jaden knew she was insane. He watched, could only watch, as she buried the only true friends he had ever known at the graves of the twelve he had dueled.

She left the graveyard, yanking Jaden along behind her, as he cried silently.

…

They got home quickly. Once the door closed and Mara's grip loosened, Jaden raced off to sequester himself in his room.

Until Mara called him, that is. He walked into the kitchen and she was there, dripping wet and smelling strangely. "Mommy…?" strange. He hadn't thought it was raining.

The kitchen was full of old newspapers and kindling for the fireplace.

"Can Mommy get a hug, Jaden?" he was instantly on his guard. His mother never gave hugs, much less asked for them. Still, he walked forward, guardedly, nervously…

She wrapped soaking wet arms around him. The strange smell was even stronger, now, and he could tell that she had sprayed hairspray and bug repellent all over the place. Why…?

"Don't worry." She whispered. Her hands were moving furtively behind his back. "Don't worry, Mommy won't let you hurt anyone ever again." His eyes widened and he opened his mouth to scream, recognizing the smell of gasoline suddenly, quickly…

Then she lit the match.

He flung himself away from her as she turned herself into a giant fireball, screaming at him and lunging like some vengeful ghost. He ran, his heart in his throat, _had to get away HAVE TO GET AWAY… _

He didn't know how long he ran. Time seemed endlessly repetitive until he heard fire truck sirens wailing outside, and a man broke open the door just as the entire kitchen burst into flame. Mara collapsed, body still burning. Jaden was whimpering as people came in, extinguishing the fire, putting clues together.

The only woman among them was the first to see him.

"Oh my God. Sweet Jesus in Heaven." She stumbled towards him, then jerked back. "The poor thing…"

"What the hell was she thinking?" a tall, gruff man glowered at his mother's body.

"You alright?" the woman leaned closer.

"Can he talk?" a second man waved a hand in front of Jaden's face.

"It's better if he doesn't remember." They both turned to look at the first man.

"How-" the woman is irritable, protective.

"Tell the doctors to use electroshock therapy." He spits on Jaden's mother's corpse.

"That's kind of harsh, don't you think?" the woman reaches out to Jaden again, but Jaden flinches away.

"The kid'll thank us for it later." Blackness overwhelms him.

…

"I spent my life from then on in a hospital, forbidden contact with my father. The therapy caused me to lose all memory of what had happened, but I remembered when I went to the funeral." He reached under his shirt to reveal the key. "Father never removed the clause to have this given to me."

It was the key. Johann touched it gently. "Did you ever find out why the key was important?"

"No. Yubel said that it was a key to the gates, but she wouldn't say what the gates opened to." he blinked. "Speaking of Yubel, she wants to say hello."

A hand fell on Johann's shoulder, causing a yelp and a jump. He turned to see the tanned face of the demoness. "Ah… hello."

_Yes. Hello, Johann._

"Wow. Surreal… are you talking directly into my head?"

_In a manner of speaking._

Johann blinked. "Uh…"

_Thank you for caring enough to pursue the matter. Though there are many spirits who care for and listen to Jaden, you are the only human so far._

"Well, uh, thanks." She smiled.

_Take care of him. I will not always be able to._

"How?" Johann couldn't help but be surprised at the question. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Jaden had walked off, not listening. "I can't really do anything! I'm just a boy, didn't even know about spirits until-"

_You will know how when the time comes. Until then, fret not._ And she was gone.

"How'd it go?" Johann jumped. What was it with those two and sneaking up on him?

"Eh, I think she liked me."

Jaden smiled, an actual smile. "Good."

They spoke a little longer, until dark truly fell. At that point, they noticed that it was late and headed off to their respective dorms.

…

New Chapter! I hope you like it, thank you to all who are reading it. Et cetera.


	6. What looks so strong So delicate

I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX. I do own the concepts explained here. Only some of it will be coming into play later. Now you know why Haoh is here.

…

Haoh appeared in a swirl of shadow, hovering at the foot of Jaden's bed. His eyes glowed as molten gold.

_**Jaden…**_ he murmured. _**Can you hear me?**_

Jaden turned over in his sleep. Haoh shook his head slowly, black and gold helmet glinting in the bright moonlight.

_**Very well.**_ He murmured, crossing his legs to sit by the bedside in a silent vigil.

He could wait until the morning.

…

Johann stretched. He reached one arm over his head, twisting to lean over to the side. "I'm all stiff." He muttered. "Must've slept funny last night…" he bent over to stretch his legs, going into a split.

"Johann!" he visibly jumped, which wasn't a good idea when you were in a split. He tumbled forward, barely managing to catch himself before his face smacked into the ground.

"Ow!" he groaned as he sat up. "Who's there?" feet smacking the ground as someone jogged towards him answered.

"Oh gosh, Johann! Sorry!" Jaden knelt to help him up. "Are you okay?"

Johann waved him off. "Yeah. What was so important that you came here at this ungodly hour of the morning?" he asked, glancing at the purple-blue clock by the bedstead, which proudly displayed the time as 6:03. "It's the weekend, and most people are still asleep."

Jaden looked embarrassed. "Yubel told me you were awake," he confessed, "And that Ammon was still asleep."

"Ammon? What does Ammon have to do with-" he remembered that they were in the same dorm room. "Oh." Jaden nodded, still looking slightly abashed.

"And Haoh said that he had to tell me something important, so I asked him if you could be there, because you're my best friend, and he sighed and said yes, you could all officious-like, you know, with that frown of his-" Jaden had begun to ramble, Johann noted.

"Calm down, Jay. So Haoh had something important to tell you, so you asked to hear it with me?"

Jaden nodded. "Yeah, but-" he paused and considered, then deflated slightly. "Yeah, that's about it, really." He looked put out.

"Okay, but let's leave the dorm. Ammon could wake up at any time." Johan suggested.

Jaden instantly brightened up. "Okay! How about in the woods?"

Johann smiled and nodded. "That's fine."

…

Haoh was already at a small clearing in the woods when Yubel led them there. _**Is that all? Or should I wait for you to bring more? **_He asked. His voice was heavy with sarcasm and some irritation, but hidden beneath that was a hidden urgency that suggested that waiting would be a very bad idea.

"Nope, that's all." Jaden announced, plopping down on the ground before Haoh. "What did you want to tell us?"

Haoh snorted. _**A little story.**_

He cleared his throat, breathing deeply.

…

A long time ago, there was a kingdom- not very large, but powerful in its own right. The king, however, had two problems- he was impotent, and had no children. There would be no heir.

This kingdom was unusual as well. The people were said to be descended from demons, and it was clear in the way they acted that they were savage and bloody-minded. They started wars needlessly, in search of bloodshed.

So the king, in good conscience, went out to seek an heir. He found an unusual boy, one devoid of emotion, devoid of love or any other feeling, and he took the boy in. He taught the boy to be a king, to lead an army, and trained the boy in the most potent magics. Then the king killed himself, and spellcast his blood into a key. He set a spell upon the boy-who-was-the- Supreme King, decreeing that when he became king, the people of the kingdom would transform into actual demons.

He did this to save the world from his people, but seeing the monsters that lived next door, his neighbors became the new demons. They hunted and slaughtered the people, dyeing the ground red with their blood. The rivers ran crimson, the trees with leaves of red.

The king, in horror, bound spells after death into the key, opening a gateway to Hell and sequestering his people within.

He decided that the Supreme King would keep on being reborn until the day came that the people of the world showed their faces, their corruption, their degraded morality and hearts, and their weakness.

At that time, the Supreme King and his knight would arise and open the gates of Hell, releasing his people into the world to take their revenge…

….

"Wait." Jaden said abruptly as Haoh finished. "All this is well and creepy, but what does this have to do with anything?"

Haoh sighed. _**The key you bear is the Key to Hell.**_

Jaden's eyes widened. "Then-"

_**Storytime is over. The rest waits. With what you know, don't lose the key. Or use it. It can only be used once. Using it renders it useless- so beware. It is essential.**_ He vanished, again in a twirl of darkness, leaving Jaden stunned.

"What is it?" Johan asked in a whisper, reluctant to disturb the unaltered silence.

"Haoh's full name is Haoh, Supreme King of Hell. And Jehu's is… Jehu, Savage Prince of Hell."

…

"Are you prepared?" the corner of Jim's mouth twitched up into a smirk.

"Of course, Principal Mackenzie." He grinned, showing teeth that were sharp and decidedly reptilian.

The principal mirrored his grin, and as Jim thought of the man's crocodile-like teeth, something stirred in the back of his mind, a sentimental and weak voice.

_Karen…_

He shook it off. "I'll recover your missing fragment, no problem."

"I have high hopes for you."

Jim beamed with pride.

_Karen!_

He scowled when he turned away. _Shut up,_ he told himself. _I don't even know who Karen is._

But another part of him cried out in pain, and he felt himself stooping to accommodate the weight of something that wasn't there.

_Karen…_

Jim "Crocodile" Cook felt, for the first time in a long time, desperately alone.

Jaden screwed his eyes shut against another blinding flash of pain behind his eyes.

_Be careful. Surging is dangerous._

"I know." He gritted out. "What can I do?"

_**For one thing, don't shut the pain out. It's the thoughts and emotions of people who can be of assistance- useful. Accept those thoughts. You might gain a valuable tool.**_

Jaden grunted, cracking his eyes open. "Thanks." He closed his eyes. Peace. Acceptance.

And it was like he was sitting in a tunnel, along a train railing. Warm, almost uncomfortably so, and he could see the pain approaching like a strange dark-glowing train around a bend in the tunnel. It howled, and he prepared to be crushed-

He was in the train, face pressed against the window, staring at the outside where flickering scenes played.

_The little boy is running through the bush, following something only he can see…_

_The little boy is riding a crocodile, laughing at its expressions, speaking to it and hearing it answer in a secret language only he is privy to…_

_The little boy leaps to protect the crocodile from a crash, finds himself falling, falling, and he knows that he is going to hit that spire of rock, oh god…_

_The little boy sits up. His eye is bandaged, throbbing, and he dares not remove the bandages because he knows what he'll see._

_The boy, ten years old, is hugging the crocodile. His eye is bandaged. He has not looked under the bandage for three years._

_A man approaches, the crocodile gone. Vaguely, it can be seen- bound and unconscious. The man is speaking to the boy, who looks twelve or thirteen. The boy is panicking._

_The boy sits up, bandages unraveling. He is confronted with a mirror, and it is seen that somehow a ruby-like crystal has embedded itself into his eye socket…_

_The crocodile is nowhere to be found, in his mind or in his life. He has forgotten it, but underneath he cries out and it makes him weak…_

_The man is laughing._

_The crocodile is gone._

Jaden snapped out of the train. The pain was gone. The Surge was over. "What…"

_Wasn't that Jim?_

"Yeah." He muttered. "What was that rock in his eye?"

_**Blood ruby. It absorbs souls and magic, and is often used to transmit curses and spells. Or in talismans.**_

"Okay. Then that guy?"

_Principal Mackenzie, wasn't it?_

"Yes… but why would he embed blood ruby in Jim's eye?" Jaden was confused, barely remembering what Yubel had told him as a child. Why would the principal have blood ruby, and how did he get it?

_All I can think of is that he knew that Jim was a skilled duelist, and used the blood ruby to create a surface personality, like a paper mache front, so that he could use that skill. Maybe Jim's one of those natural amplifiers, you know, if magic is used through him the volume and strength of the spell is multiplied?_

"Maybe. But how would he get the ruby? It can't be stolen, and it's banned material."

_Wait! There was a potential vein, if I recall- under the Black Hills. In Dakota. It was in private hands, so we couldn't do anything._

"That might be it." Jaden pursed his lips. Jim needed some help. That crocodile… Jim needed that crocodile.

… how the hell was he going to get that crocodile?

"Stupid crocodile!" he shouted.

It didn't particularly do anything for him, so he stood and walked back to the dorm. It wasn't until much later that he would think about what he had seen.

…

Jim was wandering. Someone cried out in his head as he heard something familiar; a snarl, a reptilian growl. He spun, for some reason hopeful; it was an Obelisk Blue boy with dreadlocks. He looked up at him with surprise.

"Uh, hello." Jim said. The boy looked vaguely embarrassed, and he was holding something behind his back.

Jim turned and moved on, disappointed for reasons he can't truly voice.

"Hey, uh-" Jim turned again. He cannot even fathom his motives now.

The boy scrubbed his hand into the hair on the back of his head, beneath the handkerchief that covers it.

"Yes." He feels frozen, unfocused.

"D-do you want to duel?" the boy looked up hopefully. "You're one of the exchange students, right? Uh… Jim "Crocodile" Cook?"

"Yes." He stared at the boy in front of him. Something so familiar about him. "Who are you?"

The boy grinned. His teeth were strangely animalistic. "I'm Kenzan!" he trumpeted. "Let's duel!"

Jim only nodded.

When dinosaurs attacked him, Jim almost smiled. Kenzan was so cheerful, so warm. He half closes his eyes as he wins.

The voice inside didn't say anything for the longest time. It is only once he has left that he heard himself think, longingly, nostalgically;

_Karen…_

…

Yes, Jim will be playing a larger part. He will show up, and again we will see a warping of canon.

I hope you liked this chapter as well.


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